Fun Facts About the Name Alegria
- 249 babies named Alegria: U.S. records list 249 babies given the name Alegria from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Alegria Mean?
Alegria is the Spanish and Portuguese word for "joy" or "cheerfulness," and it is the meaning carried by the name. The noun is formed from the adjective alegre ("happy, cheerful, lively") plus the suffix -ía, which builds abstract nouns, so the literal sense is "the state of being cheerful." Alegre descends from the Latin adjective alacer (genitive alacris), meaning "lively, brisk, eager, cheerful." That Latin word also lies behind the English noun "alacrity." The deeper origin of Latin alacer is not settled, so the root beyond Latin is uncertain.
Alegria Name History & Origins
The word entered the Iberian Romance languages from spoken Latin and is recorded in medieval Spanish and Portuguese writing as alegría and alegria. Its use as a personal name follows an established pattern in Spanish naming, in which abstract nouns - words for virtues, states, and emotions - are given to girls. In Spanish the stress falls on the i, which is why the accented spelling Alegría is standard; Portuguese writes it Alegria, and the unaccented form is usual in English.
The name is used in Spain and Latin America, and in Brazil, where Portuguese is spoken. Portuguese and Spanish both keep alegre and alegria/alegría as ordinary vocabulary, so the name reads as a common word rather than as an archaic or obscure form. In the Philippines, a former Spanish colony, the word also survives in place names such as Alegria in Cebu and in Surigao del Norte, and it appears there as a surname as well.
The word, rather than the personal name, is behind the best-known modern use: Alegría is the title of a Cirque du Soleil show that opened in 1994, and its title song is widely recognized. Italian Allegra, through allegro ("cheerful"), is generally traced to the same Latin alacer, but it developed separately within Italian.
How Popular is the Name Alegria?
Alegria has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2011. Its best rank was #6,862 in 2011.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #7,500 | 14 | 0.0009% |
| 2024 | #10,284 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 2022 | #11,266 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2021 | #9,592 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2020 | #12,196 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2018 | #15,785 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2017 | #10,731 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2016 | #14,421 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #14,575 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2014 | #11,977 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2013 | #16,668 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2012 | #15,049 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2011 | #6,862 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2010 | #12,325 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2009 | #10,713 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2008 | #13,905 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2007 | #10,155 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2006 | #13,658 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2005 | #7,907 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2004 | #14,240 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2003 | #12,465 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2002 | #13,663 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #11,430 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #9,285 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1997 | #13,802 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1995 | #8,784 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1993 | #13,496 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #11,542 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1990 | #11,437 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1984 | #10,452 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1980 | #10,418 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1975 | #9,093 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Alegria Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Alegria's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Alegria's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.